Bill Cosby: another woman files a sexual abuse complaint

A woman who alleges Bill Cosby drugged and sexually assaulted her in 1986 sued the comedian-actor, NBCUniversal and other companies Friday in New York, where five other women filed a similar lawsuit earlier this month.

Stacey Pinkerton says she was a 21-year-old flight attendant and model that year when she claims Cosby drugged her in an Illinois restaurant and took her back to a hotel room in Chicago. The lawsuit alleges Cosby « forced sex » with her while she was incapacitated by drugs.

The lawsuit comes more than a year after Cosby was released from prison following the overturning of his 2018 sexual assault conviction in Pennsylvania. Earlier this year, a Los Angeles jury awarded $500,000 to a woman who said Cosby sexually assaulted her at the Playboy Mansion when she was a teenager in 1975.

Pinkerton says the alleged assault happened after she met Cosby in New York and he promised to help her with her career. She says she had a role in an episode of « The Cosby Show » on NBC, but did not appear in the final cut.

Months after the alleged assault, Pinkerton said Cosby invited her to his show at a Chicago theater, where she claims he kissed and forcefully touched her.

« Cosby engaged in the same or similar behavior with his victims, » ​​Pinkerton’s lawsuit states, « including expressing an interest in advancing their careers, giving them roles on The Cosby Show, using The Cosby Show and its locations filming as a means of access, isolates, sexually harasses and sexually assaults women, uses drugs to incapacitate his victims and forcibly engages in sexual acts with them without their consent. »

The lawsuit alleges that NBC, Kaufman Astoria Studios and Carsey-Werner Television should have known Cosby was a danger to women and failed to protect Pinkerton from him.

Cosby’s spokesman, Andrew Wyatt, said Friday night that Cosby « continues to vehemently deny all allegations against him and looks forward to defending himself in court. »

« As we’ve always said, and now America can see, this isn’t about justice for victims of alleged sexual assault, it’s ALL ABOUT THE MONEY, » Wyatt wrote in a email to the Associated Press. « We believe the courts, as well as the court of public opinion, will follow the rule of law and clear Mr. Cosby of these alleged charges. »

Representatives for NBCUniversal, Kaufman Astoria Studios and Carsey-Werner Television did not immediately respond to requests for comment Friday night. All three companies were involved in the production of « The Cosby Show, » Pinkerton’s lawsuit said.

The lawsuits filed by Pinkerton and the other five women were filed as part of New York’s one-year deadline for adults to file sexual abuse complaints over allegations that had exceeded the statute of limitations for prosecution.

Cosby served nearly three years in prison before the Pennsylvania Supreme Court overturned his conviction, finding he only gave incriminating testimony in a dating deposition after believing he had the immunity from prosecution. The trial judge and an intermediate appeals court had found no evidence of such immunity.

Seven other accusers received settlements from Cosby’s insurers following conviction in Pennsylvania for a libel suit they filed in Massachusetts. Their lawsuit said Cosby and his agents disparaged them by denying their abuse allegations.